Performance comparison of rudder profiles for lateral steering of seismic streamers
Jan Vidar Grindheim1; Inge Revhaug2; Joel Sena Sales Jr.3; Mohammad Mobasheramini3; Egil Pedersen4; Peder Solheim5
1 IMT, NMBU, NO-1432 Aas / Geograf AS, NO-4307 Sandnes / LOC at UFRJ/COPPE, Rio de Janeiro.; 2 Faculty of Science and Technology (IMT), Norw. Univ. of Life Sci. (NMBU), P.O.B. 5003, NO-1432 Aas; 3 Laboratório de Ondas e Correntes (LOC) at UFRJ/COPPE, Rio de Janeiro; 4 Dep. of Eng. Sci. and Safety, The Arctic University of Norway (UiT), NO-9037 Tromso; 5 Geograf AS, Strandgt. 5, NO-4307 Sandnes
doi:10.20906/CPS/CILAMCE2017-0510
Resumo
Seismic streamers are utilized extensively for offshore petroleum exploration. Optimal steering of the streamers is one important aspect of improving the efficiency of seismic operations. A simulation study has been performed for comparing the efficiency of symmetric rudder profiles for lateral steering of towed underwater seismic streamers. The profiles are in two categories: NACA symmetrical profiles and Schilling profiles. In the first set of simulation runs, profiles proprietary to Laboratório de Ondas e Correntes (LOC) at UFRJ/COPPE are utilized. Lift- and drag curves based on both laboratory experiments performed at LOC and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) are utilized. In the second set of simulation runs, a series of profiles from Nguyen & Ikeda (2014) are utilized. The performance data for the various profiles have been implemented in a seismic streamer steering simulator. The same simulation run is run for each of the rudder profiles, where the simulator is set to follow a predefined path. The aim is for the streamer to follow the predefined path as closely as possible with the least amount of rudder drag. Based on the simulation data it is suggested that the Schilling rudders have higher steering performance compared to the NACA profiles.
Palavras-chave: Seismic streamer control; Towed underwater cable control; Schilling rudder; Petroleum exploration